Manufacturing ore bricks.



NITED STATES Patented March 22, 1904.

JOSEPH KOENIGER, OF COLOGNE, GERMANY.

-MANUFACTURING ORE BRICKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,372, dated March22, 1904.

Application filed July 8, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH KOENIGER, civil engineer, a subject of theKing of Bavaria, residing at 25 Aachenerstrasse, in the city of Oologne,Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire,

have invented a certain new and useful Process of ManufacturingWeatherproof Bricks for Smelting Purposes from Sandy Ore or Ore- Dustand the Like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to a process for manufacturing bricks forsmelting purposes from lower-grade ores or such which heretoforepresented great difiiculties in the smelting process, as they could notbe reduced to compact bricks such as sandy ores, oredust, slimes,tailings, blast-furnace tunneldust, residue of burnt iron and copperpyrites, and other materials of this and a similar nature-the processproviding means whereby these materials may be shaped into bricks whichwill resist the action of the Weather and can be easily smelted. In themanufacture of bricks of this kind an addition is made of substancescapable of chemical action such as lime, magnesia, borax, sulfuric acid,and water, the lime being used for the purpose of solidifying thematerial, for purifying the earthy components of the crude ore or otherraw material employed in the smelting operation, and it also isoperative in making the brick Weatherproof. The addition of magnesiacauses the consistency and cohesiveness of the stock until the fusiontemperature is reached, when this addition is removed without leaving anobjectionable residue. Borax acts as a solvent for the oxids of themetals, and it also has the efiect of binding the constituents togetherand to retain them up to the point of fusion, when it also separates outin the slag. Sulfuric acid is added in form of sulfuric-acid anhydrid oras crude acid, this addition resulting in a rapid drying of the bricks.In the smelting operation the sulfuric acid is removed Without anyinjurious effect upon the process even before the point of fusion isreached. Water at last serves as a diluent for the sulfuric acid added,and as a binding agent for the other components, and it is also removedwhen the bricks are dried Serial No. 114,330. (No model.)

before the smelting operation. The combined effect of thesechemically-acting additions is greatly assisted by suitableautomatically-operated brick-molding devices, and in particular bymixing and saturating the material with the additions in definiteproportions checked by theresults of chemical tests, the severalcomponents being most intimately mixed and being then pressed intosuitable molds and any desired sizes, when the bricks areready to be fedto the smelting-furnace.

As regards the carrying out of the process, it may be remarked that theamount of magnesia and borax necessary for addition is governed by theresults of previous chemical tests of the substances it is desired tosubmit to the brick-making operation. In the case of an ore residue withfifty to sixty per cent. of iron the following proportions may be usedfor each 100 (one hundred) pounds of ore residuethat is to say, anaddition is made of 18.2 pounds of lime, (OaO,) 2.6 to 4.5 pounds ofmagnesite,(lWIgOO3,)2. 1 to 4:. 2 pounds of borax,

(Na2BiO1,) 5.8 parts (in weight) of sulfuricacid anhydrid, (803,)twenty-five and more parts (in Weight) of water, (H2O,) theseproportions being merely approximative, however.

The amount of iron lost after the brick making and smelting processes asa result of the said additions is not above two and one-half to: threeper cent. under the most unfavorable circumstances, and the run of thefurnace is not interfered with in the least by these additions. Incalculating the proportions of the various additions it is to be notedthat the amount of lime mentioned should be reduced in the proportion ofthe quantity of lime present in the ore submitted to the process. Theseveral materials are mixed in the right proportion, and they are thenstirred. up together first in a dry and then in a Wet condition in adrum, the materials being first intimately mixed in a dry condition andbeing then mixed with'liquid in form of crude sulfuric acid and water,the sulfuric acid being completely mixed with the water before addingthe same. The intimately and uniformly mixed ingredients are fed intothe brickmolding machine and are then compressed to form bricks, whichare dried in suitable IOO rooms or places, and after about fourteen daysbricks of medium size are ready for smelting, their percentage ofmoisture being not higher than that of the iron ores ordinarily employedfor the smelting operation.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. The process for manufacturing weatherproof bricks for smeltingpurposes from sandy ores or ore-dust, ore residues, tunnel-dust, burntiron and copper pyrite residues and from similar material, whichconsists in mixing the materials which are to be submitted to theprocess in a dry condition with lime, magnesia and borax and thenintimately mixing the resultant mass with dilute crude sulfuric acid,then pressing and molding the mixture and drying the resultant bricks.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a smelting-brick consisting of orematerial, lime, magnesia, borax and diluted sulfuric acid, as setforth.-

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH KOENIGER.

- Witnesses:

CHARLES LESIMPLE, CARL SOHMITT.

